Stocks on Wall street rose for a fourth day, ending the week with a 2.9% gain and breaking a three-week losing streak.

A better-than-expected monthly jobs report erased almost all of August's slump.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 127.83 points, or 1.2%, to close at 10,447.93, edging back into positive territory for the year.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.5% to 2233.75, while the S&P 500 index added 1.3% to 1104.51. Both indexes were up 3.7% on the week.

The market jumped after government data showed job losses slowing faster than economists had predicted, though the unemployment rate crept up to 9.6%.

Other markets: Europe, Asia up

European stocks rallied on the US employment figures. The Stoxx Europe 600 index, which was up just 0.4% before the data, finished up 0.9% at 260.40.

The French CAC-40 index rose 1.1% to 3672.20 points, helped by a 3.7% gain for shares of Societe Generale, a 3.3% rise for Credit Agricole and a 2% rise for BNP Paribas.

Germany's DAX-30 rose 0.8% to 6,134.62 points, led by Daimler, up 1.6%, and Man, up 2.1%, while the UK FTSE 100 index closed up 1.1% at 5428.15.

Most Asian markets rose with Japanese stocks gaining on the back of exporters, starting the month with three straight gains and ending the week up 1.4%.

The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.6%, to 9114.13, after Thursday's 1.5% gain, as exporters charged ahead.

Toyota Motor rose 2.1%, gaining for the first time in five days a 16% increase in August vehicle sales in China, marking the first double-digit growth in three months.
Sony advanced 2.4%, Canon1.3% and Mazda Motor 2.2%.

Commodities: Oil up,  gold down

Crude futures ended lower after a report showed growth in the US service sector slowed last month.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery settled 42USc, or 0.6%, lower at $US74.60 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE Futures exchange traded 35USc, or 0.5%, lower at $US76.58 a barrel.

Gold futures lost ground. The most actively traded contract for December delivery fell $US2.30, or 0.2%, to settle at $US1251.10 an ounce in New York.

Currencies: Dollar down, euro up

The dollar fell against most rivals after the better-than-expected US jobs report.

Disappointing figures from the U.S. service sector took some shine off currencies closely tied to global growth, but optimism ruled the day, with the growth-sensitive Australian and Canadian dollars gaining strongly against the U.S. dollar.

The euro was at $1.2895 from $1.2822 late on Thursday. The dollar was at ¥84.42 from ¥84.23 after having gained to ¥85.23.

The euro was at ¥108.86 from ¥108.00. The UK pound was at $US1.5464 from $US1.5398.